
Glass. 
Book 












" Clarum et Venerabile Nomen." 



A. DISCOURSE, 



coMMHMORATIVK OF THK 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



ABRAHAM LIILTCOLIDT, 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



DELIVERED APRIL 23, I3S5. 



P.Y REV. T. E. BLISS, PASTOR OF THE UNION CHURCH OF MEMPHIS. 



MEMPHIS, TENK. 

W. A. WIMTMOKK, STEAM BOl K AND JOB PRINTER, 13 MADISON STREET. 

1865 



■ Clarum et Venerabile Nomen." 



A. DISCOURSE, 



iMMKMiii: ITIVK OF THE 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



_a_jb:r,.a_:b:.A-:m: LucrcoLisr, 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



DELIVERED APRIL 2 3, I B 6 5 . 



BY KEV. T E. BLISS, PASTOR OF THE UNION CHURCH OF RfEMPHIS; 

it 



MEMPHIS, TEN1T. 
W. A. WHITMOBE, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINT 13 MADISON 8TR1 - P. 

1865. 






Memphis, Tenn., May 1, 1865 
Key. T. E. Buss, 

Dear Sir : — 
The undersigned Committee, appointed by your congregation 
to solicit for publication the sermon delivered by you, on the 22d 
ult., on the Life and Character of the late President of the United 
States, have the honor to request of you the manuscript of that 
discourse and your leave to publish the same. 

Respectfully, Your Obedient Servants, 

E. A. WHIPPLE, 
P. E. BLAND, 
JOS. TAGG. 



Messrs. Whipple, Bland and Tagg, 

Dear Strs : — 
Your kind note of the 1st inst., has been received. The 
discourse referred to was prepared without any special reference 
to its publication; but the wishes of my people, at once, so 
reasonable and complimentary, I do not feel at liberty to disregard. 
I therefore accede to the request and place the manuscript at 
your disposal, with the sincere hope that much good to the cause 
of lo3 r alty and truth may be the result. 

Very truly, 3:0111s, 

T. E. BLISS. 
Memphis, Texx., May 2, 1865. 



DISCOURSE. 



Zech 12:12 — "And the land shall mourn- — every family apart." 

This language of the ancient prophet of God finds to-day a 
Btriking and impressive fulfillment. On every hand the emblems 
of mourning are seen, and the great heart of the nation seems to 
beal heavily as if burdened with its mighty sorrow. Our public 
thoroughfares and edifices are shrouded in gloom. The busy 
marts of trade arc stilled with the silence of death, and all things 
betoken a nation's profoundest grief. Our flag — the loved symbol 
of our nationality — dearer far than ever before, because of the 
sacred affections of the thousands of faithful hearts that are en- 
twined around it, and have bled and died to shield it from stain 
or dishonor — this too is draped in the habiliments of mourning, 
and is lowered to but half its wonted height in token of our 
universal woe. The booming cannon — the tolling bells — the 
funeral dirges — the slowly moving processions, with reversed 
arms ami muffled drums — the sad and downcast expression, tho 
tearful eye, as friend meets friend — all indicate that this is no 
empty pageant, but that patriot hearts are bowed down with a 
sense of some great public calamity. 

But why is this, when so recently these hearts were bounding 
with joy and gladness in view of the many and splendid victories 
achieved, and the bright prospects of returning peace ? Why 
this sudden change from the sunshine of meridian day to the 



sombre gloom of darkest night ? Have grave disasters attended 
our arms? Have whisperings of heart-sickening defeat and base 
dishonor been noised abroad ? Have the fondly cherished hopes 
that war's dark cloud would soon pass away been blasted, and 
the dawning light of returning peace gone down in utter despair? 
Is it for this that the nation afflicts itself to-day, and mourneth as 
one mourneth for her first born? Do patriots despair of the Re- 
public, and philanthropists surrender all hopes of the freedom 
and amelioration of the condition of man ? No ! it is not for 
these things that we now weep and mourn. It is not for these 
things that the nation to-day is bowed so low in the bitterness of 
its grief. But it is because our good and beloved chieftain has 

fallen Abraham Lincoln is dead. The hand of an assassin 

has wrought the infamous deed, and it is for this that our heads 
are bowed in deepest soitoav. This strange and appalling crime 

a crime unknown to us before in our national history — may 

well humble our hearts alike in shame and tears. In shame — be- 
cause we must now confess before the nations that in this 
boasted land of freedom and brave men, there are wretches, na- 
tive-born, base enough to perpetrate an act so fiendish and 
atrocious that its parallel can scarcely be found in modern times. 
In sorrow and tears, because a great'and good man has fallen. 
upon whose counsels we have leaned, and by whose guidance we 
have been safely lead, thus far, through the long, dark night of 
this gigantic and Avicked rebellion. In the midst of his days and 
his usefulness; at the zenith' of his fame and glory; while the 
cares and burdens of the nation are resting upon him in their 
full weight, he is suddenly stricken down in death, to the amaze- 
ment of all, and to the untold grief of every man or woman who 
is fit evermore to be a citizen of this great and free Eopublic. 
Well may the land mourn to-day, for its noblest one lies cold 
and straightened for the grave. Well may we as a people put 
on sackcloth and mourn in the bitterness of our grief, for the 
strong rod on which Ave leaned in these stormy and troublous 
times is taken away. Well may a nation's tears Aoav when its 
second great and good Washington is no more. And to-day, in 
spirit, wo Avill folloAv that procession as they sloAvly bear the 
mortal remains ' of Abraham Lincoln from capitol to capitol 
through millions of heart-stricken mourners to its final place 

of rest. 

But Avho is this of whom avo thus speak, and Avhere Avas the 



[5] 

home of his childhood ? Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin 
Count}*, Kentucky, February L2, is()9. His father was a native 
of Virginia, to which State his ancestors migrated from Pennsyl- 
vania. In 1816 the father of our lamented President removed 
with his family to Spencer County, Indiana. In doing this he 
was prompted by his strong aversion to the system of Slavery, 
and his desire to be rid forever of its manifold and pernicious in- 
fluences. He early imbibed the sentiments of all the great 
fathers of this Pepublic on this subject, which were so freely 
promulgated at that day; and his own observation abundantly 
convinced him of the immense evils — social, moral, political and 
otherwise — oi that fell and accursed institution. An institution, 
be it ever remembered, which, directly or indirectly, like man's 
first disobedience, has brought all this woe upon our nation. 

In 1830 the family moved to Decatur, Illinois, and there laid 
the foundation for a permanent home. Having seen the family 
comfortably settled, the son, then 21 years of age, left the home 
circle, where he was ever dearly loved, and entered upon the 
career of life for himself. Up to this time, his biographers all 
agree, that he had been a faithful and obedient son, a kind and 
considerate brother, and an earnest and laborious young man. 
From his boyhood he had been noted for his truthfulness, bis 
geniality, and his strict integrity. D iri g this time his facilities 
lor education had been very meagre, but he had made the most 
of them. He had mastered the rudiments of learning, and now, 
in the intervals of labor, was storing his mind, as best he could, 
with useful knowledge. His moral and religious instruction had 
not been neglected. His parents were plain and unpretending 
Christian people, and in their humble way deeply instilled the 
lessons of divine wisdom into the minds of their children. As has 
been so often confessed in other instances, so was it in this. Abraham 
Lincoln owed most, in all these things, to his mothers : — -first to his 
own, and afterward his step-mother, who seems to have been a 
most exemplary woman, and between whom and this son there 
ever existed the most filial and happy relations. After leaving 
home he engaged in farm labor, then was a miller, a salesman, a 
boatman, in turn, but in every instance seems to have won the 
entire confidence of his employers, and thus early acquired the 
appellation which he has since carried through life, that of a 
strictly honest man. Socially, and in his business dealings, he 
was much beloved by young and old. "lie was affable and gen- 



[6] 

erous, ever ready to assist the needy, or to sympathise with the 
distressed, and never was known to be guilty of a dishonorable 
act." 

In the Black Hawk war, so called, he was the first to enlist, in 
the community where he resided, and was unanimously chosen 
captain of the company. At the expiration of their term of ser- 
vice, he again enlisted as a private, and continued with his regi- 
ment to the end of the war, thus showing that it was not for 
mere military honors that he entered the service of his country, 
and setting thereby a good example to the hundreds of thousands 
of brave men who have of late served under him. 

From the commencement he seems to have been a special 
favorite, and one whom the people, who have known him best, 
have ever delighted to honor. He was early sent to the Legis- 
lature of his adopted State, and served with ability his constitu- 
ents. His sympathies were always to be found on the side of 
right. He abhorred a base and corrupt thing, and. never could 
be drawn into the meshes of any unscrupulous clique. In the 
practice of law he would not attempt a case which be knew to be 
morally wrong. Often he would urge a settlement when he was 
well aware that his own interests were averse to it. A disposition 
so naturally kind and benevolent had no sympathy with the dark 
plots of bad men, and he turned awaj~ from them with higher and 
nobler aspirations. 

His record as a member of Congress is fair and honorable. 
True to the parental instructions of his childhood and youth, his 
sympathies, his voice and his vote were always on the side of 
freedom and a large and generous nationality. 

While canvassing the State of Illinois for the U. S. Senate, his 
debates with Judge Douglas were of the most eloquent and mas- 
terly character. There has probably never been in the annals of 
political life a contest so ably and so kindly conducted, and no 
one, it maybe added, more thoroughly respected the ability and 
candor of his rival than did the late Senator Douglas himself. Jt 
was during this canvass that Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion, paid 
that noble tribute to the Declaration of Independence — an appeal 
which ought to live in immortul beauty in the history of his coun- 
try — « These communities (the thirteen colonies)," said he, "by 
their representatives in Old Independence Hall, said to the world 
of men — 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
are born equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 



[7] 

inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the 
pursuit of* happiness. This," he continued, " was their majestic 
interpretation of the economy of the universe. This was their 
loft}', wise and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator 
to his creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all his creatures, to the 
whole great family of man. in their enlightened belief, nothing 
stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the 
world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its 
fellows. They grasped not on\y the race of men then living, but 
they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. 
They created a beacon to guide their children and their children's 
children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth 
in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the 
tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established 
these self-evident truths, that when, in the distant future, some 
man, some faction, some interest should set up the doctrine that 
none but rich men, or none but white men, or none but Anglo- 
Saxon men were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of 
Independence, and take courage to renew the battle which their 
fathers began, so that truth, and justice, and mercy, and all the 
humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from 
the land, so that no man would hereafter dare to limit or circum- 
scribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was 
being built. Now, my countrymen, if 3 r ou have beon taught doc- 
trines conflicting: with the <n>eat landmarks of the Declaration of 
independence ; if you have listened to suggestions which would 
take from its grandeur, "and mutilate the fair symmetry of its 
proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are 
not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our 
chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back, return to the 
fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the Eevolu- 
tion. Think nothing of me," he continues, " take no thought for 
the political fate of any man whomsoever, but come back to the 
truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do 
anything with me you choose, if you will but, heed these sacred 
principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may 
takemeandputmetodt-ath ! I charge you to drop e very paltrj and 
insignificant thought for any man's success. 1 1, is aothing — I am 
nothing — Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that im- 
mortal emblem of humanity — The Declaration of Independence/' 



[8] 

Oh! noble and god-like words— tit to be enshrined in the 
memory of every son and daughter of tins free Eepuhlic! — and 
well worthy to be engraven upon the lintels and arches of our 
great temple of American Liberty. This is the language of a 
patriot statesman indeed — a large-hearted philanthropist — the 
friend and well wisher of the whole family of man, irrespective 
of condition, color or nationality. It is for such an one that we 
weep to-day, and for whom the whole land mourneth. For the 
fall of such an one, whose whole life and public deeds have been 
a veritable confirmation of these noble sentiments, wo do well 
to bow ourselves in deep humiliation and sorrow. 

On the occasion of his first elevation to the Presidency of the 
United States, he bore his honors with becoming gravity. The 
vanity of little minds in no wise was apparent. He was the same 
quiet, unpretending citizen still. Though a malignant hatred, 
which had its origin in treason and rebellion, from the first 
followed him from the quiet of his home at Springfield, Illinois, 
to the Capitol of the Nation, and sought in various ways to 
compass his assassination, and though various plots have been 
discovered, and attempts upon his life made since, yet strange to 
say, his spirit never appears to have been embittered in the least 
against his enemies. In all his speeches and proclamations, the 
records of his public orders, and the reports of his private conver- 
sations and correspondence, not the least shade of vindictiveness 
is discernable. Malice seems to have had no place in his nature. 
While the now fugitive head of the rebellion was known to be 
conspiring with assassins, and Dancing the most shocking 

cruelty to Federal prisoners, so that thousands and tens of thou- 
sands of our brothers and fathers died at their hands, while he 
offered, too, large rewards for the heads of some of our Federal 
officers, thus prompting to assassination, and resolutions were 
deliberately introduced into the rebel Congress offering bribes for 
the murder of Union men, whether soldiers or citizens; — whi|e 
our Northern cities were filled with incendiaries, and the most 
shocking cruelties were being perpetrated in the name of treason, 
yet no provocation was suffi cient to arouse the spirit of revenge 
in our great and good President. Of all men we have ever had in 
any prominent position in the country, he was the most free from 
every thing of this character. Indeed, his unwillingness to see 
the penalties of law enforced, and his readiness to pardon the 
most implacable criminals, have been regarded hy many of his 



[9] 

best friends as serious defects. But bis large, genial, and loving 
heart was ever ready to i'orget and overlook. All through the 
cruel and bloody drama of the rebellion, fie was ever cautious and 
slow to commit the question of life and death to the hands of his 
chiefest subordinates and commanders. lie knew the strength 
of passion, and how easy it is for a vindictive spirit to usurp the 
place and name ol justice. 

Early in his administration, immediately following the repeated 
attempts upon Ids life on the way to the Capitol of the Nation, and 
on the occasion of his inauguration, his proclamations breath only 
the spirit of entreaty and peace. While frankly avowing his duty 
and determination to maintain the Government and the Union in 
their full integrity, be yet disclaimed any wish to resort to blood- 
shed, and declared that the Government would not do so, unless 
compelled, in self-defence. After the attempt upon bis own life in 
Baltimore, and the bloody and unprovoked assault upon the 
Massachusetts Sixth in that city on the ever-memorable 19th of 
April, he was yet ;mxious to avoid a rupture, and ordered the 
troops by another route to Washington, with this in vieAv, 
saying, at, the same time, in a communication to the Mayor of that 
city, i: I shall do all in my power for peace, consistently with the 
maintenance of the Government." But time would fail me were 
T to dwell upon the many exhibitions of his forbearance and 
desire for peace. As we now reflect upon them, we wonder and 
are the more deeply and profoundly grieved that such a man 
could ever have had such cruel and implacable enemies, and that 
he should have fallen by the hands of those whom he was ever so 
ready to forgive. The absence of any such disposition on the part 
of him whom we mourn to-day, renders the crime of his assassina- 
tion all the more atrocious and appalling in its guilt; and in view 
of its repeated attempts, is enough to consign to eternal infamy 
ami execration the traitorous cause in whose name, and for whose 
benefit the foul deed was perpetrated. 

From the commencement to the close of bis administration 
his great obiect, to which he bent all bis energies, was to maintain 
the Constitution and the Union in their full integrity and honor. 
For this he was ready, from the outset, to lay by every local con- 
sideration, to bury old party animosities, and to unito in good 
faith with every loyal heart to uphold the noble fabric of our Re- 
public, whose foundations, as ho well knew, had been laid and 
sealed in the patriot blood of the Revolution. Whenever good 



[10] 

and true men were found in the ranks of his political opponents, 
he cheerfully gave them the highest honors- The first prominent 
commissions issued were given to those who had long been ar- 
rayed against him. He would not allow any former differences 
to interfere with the interests of the Government. Hisviews of the 
crisis were too clear, and his heart too noble and magnanimous to 
stoop to any petty personalities, or to sutler anything to comein be- 
tween him and the great longing of his heart — the maintenance 
and perpetuation of our free institutions for millions yet Unborn. 
He adopted, with his whole soul, the motto — hacked by traitor 
hands on that monument in yonder beautiful Square — "The 
Federal Union; it must be preserved." * To this end, 
when inaugurated, lie had taken his solemn oath before the nation, 
and nothing should hinder him from its strict fulfillment. No ties 
of kindred or of blood, of party or of interest. No threats or in- 
timidations, no casuistries or catchwords, no treacheries or dis- 
asters, no counsels of the timid or portrayals of the immensity 
of the ta»sk, could baffle him or turn him aside from the steady, 
onward pursuit of the great, grand object before him — the main- 
tenance of the Union. To this everything else must bend, and 
for this, everything else, must give place. 

Early in the contest he saw, as many others did, that one great 
source of corruption and wickedness was, in various forms and 
ways, the fruitful cause of all our troubles — that except for its 
benefit, its spread and perpetuity, there could never have been 
any sufficient motive for treason and rebellion. Thirty years 
previous, under another name, it had been tried, and failed utterly. 
But now, so distinctly had the issue been made up in the contests 
over Texas and California, and more recently in Kansas, that to 
deny tluit slavery was the real cause of this rebellion, would be 
puerile aud ridiculous in the extreme. It was this institution 
which had been the chief cause of all the estrangement be- 
tween the North and the South from the beginning. It was this 
which had caused heated discussions, wrangles, broils, duels, 
mobs and murders without end. It was this which made so much 



* On the monument to General Jackson, in Court Square, in this city, are sculptured 
these memorable words :—" The Federal Union— it must be preserved." During the days 
of rebel rule, certain traitors, to whom this sentiment was a constant rebuke, sought to 
have it erased. The work of destruction was commenced, but not completed. The scars 
thus left, will long continue a fitting memorial of those times, and of the vain and wicked 
folly of attempting to destroy the work of our patriot Fathers, which God has so long 
honored, and which, of late, has been sealed anew by so mnch of the best patriot blood of 
the land. 



[11] 

trouble in the formation oi our Constitution in 1798, It was this 
which Led to the prediction of disunion by Calhoun iu 1812, and 
which was openly and boldly threatened in 1819 and 1X20 on the 
Missouri question. It was this which was the real cause of the 
outbreak of Nullification in South Carolina in lS^O, and which 
(Jen. Jackson then predicted would again, sooner or later, appear. 
It was this which caused renewed threats of disunion unless 
Texas was admitted, and again when California was admitted 
with a free Constitution. It was this which threatened disunion 
again in 1850, unless that bill of abominations, so called, the 
Fugitive Slave Law, was passed, It was this, as everybody 
knows, which caused all the troubles in Kansas, where, in fact, 
the first blood of this wicked war was shed. It was this — Sliirciij 
— which inspired the counsels and combinations of treason, which 
was tlu' catchword of the leaders to rouse the passions of the 
masses of the Southern people, it was this which has been the 
bond to hind the South together in Congress from the beginning, 
on any question affecting its interest. It was this which 
awakened such implacable hatred toward Northern people who 
would uot adopt Southern principles, which inspired such fiendish 
cruellies toward Northern prisoners as Abolitionists, and towards 
colored troops aud their officers. !t A r as this which, was seen to 
be the animating. spirit of this unholy rebellion, in a thousand 
different ways and forms. So distinctly and (dearly marked had 
all this been, that, the eyes of thoughtful men were turned toward 
it, early in the war. They argued that to remove the cause of the 
the disease was Hie most effectual waj of saving the patient. 
Takeaway the motive to rebellion, and the bond which bound it 
together, and sooner or later il would become disintegrated and 
fall tothe ground. Mad -passions and desperate means might sus- 
tain itforatime, but with the first greal inspiring motion gone, 
the bloody arm of treason would be paralyzed. Acting on this 
principle, with the greal desire to pres< rve the Union, and at the 
same time give freedom and lie rights of manhood to millions oi 
Ids fellow creatures, in accordance with hi- long-cherished con- 
victions, Preaidenl Lincoln penned ami sent forth to the world 
on the 1st of January, 1863, thai immortal document, the "Pro 
< tarnation of Emancipation " Never before in the history of our 
Government had such a step been practicable or constitutional. 
But now the contingency long before intimated by thai sagacious 
statesman, John Quince A.dam , had arrived. 1 1 is a first principle 



[12] 

of constitutional law, that, to save the life of the nation, every 
tiling which is adverse to it, or conspires against it, must fall. 
True, "Peace hath its victories, no less renowned than war;" but 
this splendid victory for humanity, all right-minded people admit, 
could never have been achieved in time of peace under our Con- 
stitution. Nothing s'hort of such a crisis admitted of such a course. 
Nothing but ti'eason could ever have given the arm of our general 
Government the power to tear up, root and branch, this deadly 
"upas," which has been poisoning the blood of the nation from 
generation to generation. This, our good President well under- 
stood, and he only waited until the people should see its necessity 
and utility with a sufficient clearness and force of conviction, that 
would sustain him in taking the important step. Then, with a 
blest comminging of motives, of patriot duty, and of philanthropic 
joy, the clarion of freedom was sounded — the proclamation was 
given, and millions of the human family were lifted up from the 
depths of chains and slavery to become a free people on^ God's 
free earth. 

O holy and sublime transaction ! Happy, thrice happy, he 
who lived, with all his sorrows, to see this hallowed deed per- 
formed, which proved the turning point of the nation's redemp- 
tion. From that hour, it seems as though the frown of the 
Almighty in a great measure passed away. The mighty God of 
battles now went forth with our hosts to victory. The tide of 
treason was rolled back. The onward march of ourarmies ground 
treason, chains and slavery in the dust beneath their i'eet, and the glad 
shouts of victory on victory pealed and echoed and re-echoed all 
over the land ! Of this great and good deed, so fruitful of blessings 
to the nation and to humanity, history will make a shining record. 
In all the eventful career of Abraham Lincoln, no one thing 
which he accomplished can compare in greatness and true glory 
with this. In alter years it will live in story and in song. Orators 
will plume the wing of fancy as they dwell upon this sublime 
transaction. Poets will sing their sweetest lays, inspired by this 
immortal theme, and millions yet unborn, oi' every nation, color 
and clime shall rise up to call him blessed. 

Step by step, ©ur lamented chieftain was permitted to see the 
progress made towards the overthrow' of the rebellion, and the 
final restoration of the Union. This consummation, which he 
so devoutly wished, and for which he so long had labored, was 
apparently about to be realized, when death overtook him at the 



[13] 

hands of an assassin. Manfully and nobly had he struggled on 
through sunshine and storm for more than four years. His gianl 
frame was becoming bowed under the weight of the immense 
burdens resting upon him. His locks were being whitened by 
the cares and responsibilities which lie bore about with him 
Dike another, " he was weary in the good work, but not of the 
work." Kaised up of God to lead this nation through a terrible 
crisis, like the great Law-giver of Israel, he was not permitted to 
cuter the promised land of peace. From the pisgah heights of 
the nation's Capitol he beheld the Star Spangled Banner floating 
in triumph from the battlements of Richmond and saw the con- 
quered hosts of treason file, unarmed, before our war-worn heroes, 
in token of submission. He heard the booming cannon as they 
thundered around our Southern cities, and caught the martial 
strains of the armies of freedom and the Union as they went 
marching on, from Capitol to Capitol and from Victory to Victory. 
He heard, too, the shouts of the millions whom he had declared free, 
as they were borne to his ear on the balmy southern breezes and 
ho saw that the land was well-watered and fair to look upon, and 
he longed to enter in and be at rest. But God, Ave believe, had 
prepared another and a better Rest for him. His work was done, 
and well done ! And now, for wise and holy purposes which we 
know not yet, but which we shall know hereafter, the hand of an 
assassin is permitted to complete the long catalogue of the crimes 
of treason. Well has it been said, that "Rebellion against a just 
government comprehends and includes all crimes." We cannot 
forget the cruelties and enormities which have marked the course 
of treason from the beginning. We were horrified at the bar- 
barities practiced upon the Federal dead at the first battle of 
Bull Run. Port Pillow is still fresh in memory. The needless 
and deliberate starvations at Richmond and A ndersonville ; the 
recent atrocities of guerilla wariare taken in connection with the 
previous and repeated attempts ujpon the Life of our President, 
all show that this last great crime, this final climax of wickedness 
is as natural a fruit of 1 his Rebellion as any that have preceded 
it. Crimes, like men. are known by the company they keep. 
They all sprang from the same source.; they were nourished by 
the same influences ; they were prompted by the same motives, and 
wereactuated by the same spirit. To ask as to shut our. eyes to 
thesi to pologize for these enormities, and to treal with 

distinguished consideration those who for years have helped on this 



[¥] 

rebellion, and are thus participators in these crimes, is to add in. 
suit to injury, to mock at a nation's agony, and to trifle with the 
best and profoundest emotions of patriot hearts. There are no 
principles of government, human or divine, which countenances 
an}' such course. Justice and truth, and all the blood of our 
martyred hosts, from Ellsworth onward, cry aloud .against it. 
Its whole effect would be to turn dear-bought victory into dis- 
astrous defeat, to make rebels feel that loyal men had been guilty 
of a crime in conquering treason, and to foster in them the desire 
to make them suffer accordingly. It would be putting the 
rod of domination and authority again into the hands of those 
who have been the chief authors and abettors of all this appalling 
wickedness. It would be, in fine, to overthrow the very founda- 
tions of «>-overnnient, to confound all distinctions between 
right and wrong, vice and virtue, loyalty and treason. But this 
will not be done unless God has given us over to an astonishing 
blindness and infatuation which will prove our utter ruin. Thanks 
be to his name we have a man, from this Commonwealth, at the 
head of the government, who will prove himself equal to the oc- 
casion. It is with no spirit of vindictiveness, but with a sense of 
safety and relief, we read such recent utterances of his as the 
followino- :— " The American people must be taught, it they do not 
already feel, that treason is crime, and must be punished." His 

doctrine is and it is sound and right — a considerate clemency for 

the masses, but the penalties of the law for the leaders. And 
here, with the blessing of God, is our safety and our hope. A 
people cannot disregard these principles without destroying them- 
selves. No government can stand when its very foundations are 
apheaved, or are suffered to crumble away. Actuated by these 
sound and true principles and spirit, and by none others, we be- 
speak tor the present Executive head of the Nation, by prayer 
and corresponding effort, the cordial support of all loyal and true 
men We trust that the fair fabric of this Republic shall stand 
through many coming generations. We feel that God has a great 
work for this nation yet to do. While we deeply mourn to-day, 
it is not as those without hope. A nation with such a father as 
Washington and such a preserve* as Lincoln, cannot yet have 
fulfilled its destiny; a mighty future is before it. far more -rand 
and glorious than the past. 

[n gathering up the prominenf B atures in the character of our 
Lamented President, we find many in common with those oi the 



[15] 

great and good Washington. In their youth, when the founda- 
tions of character for all after life arc usually Laid, they were 
alike noted for their truthfulness, fidelity and filial piety, [nearly 
manhood, they were alike industrious and untiring, according to 
their opportunities, in the pursuit of knowledge They were de- 
voted in common to the great principles of freedom and free 
government. They were early promoted to positions of (rust 
and confidence by their friends and constituents, and proved 
themselves in after years to be sagacious statesmen, wise in coun- 
cil, deliberate inaction, steady and sure in the accomplishment of 
great and desired results. They were alike tall and masculine in 
body, broad and comprehensive in understanding, calm and pene- 
trating in intellect, sound and reliable in judgment, upright and 
conscientious in all their transactions, thoughtful students of the 
bible, devout worshipers of Almighty God, lovers of good men 
and all good measures. In purity of character, in a patriotism 
which was incorruptible, in lofty and noble purposes, and in the 
grand results of lite, they stand side by side, and their name.: 
shall lie handed down to posterity, the one as the Father, and the 
other the Savior of his country. In such goodly company they 
shall live on in history, so long as this Republic shall be known 
among the nations, or gratitude shall he enkindled in the bosoms 
of statesmen and philanthropists. Their examples shall he 
banded down for the imitation of t hose who shall come after them, 
and coming generations shall revere their memory, shall ponder 
their principles, ami shall rise up with united voices to call them 
blessed. 

Hut poor indeed is the wreath of fame and affection with which 
i" day we may adorn our fallen lender's brow. In that better 
lahd, where there are no wars nor fighting, uo sorrow, no tears, 
we trust that he has already received a far brighter crown, all 
radiant with eternal light and glory. He who but a few months 
ago told the story of his- love for .lesus, in tears, ami with all the 
simplicity of a child; whose custom it has been to devote the firsl 
hour of the day in seeking Divine wisdom ami guidance in the 
study of the Scriptures and in prayer; whose heart was 
ever open to the cry of the poor and the oppressed ; who, under 
God, hath wrought such great deliverance for his people, and 
Who, in all his character and conduct, was so pure and stain- 
less; an exchange of worlds to such an one, though to our great 
loss, yet to him, we feel it must be great L r ain. 



[16] 

'* Life's labor done, as Sinks the clay, 

Light from its load the spirit flies. 
While heaven and earth combine to gay, 

How blest the righteous when he dies !" 

Abraham Lincoln was a good man. He has filled the measure 
of his fame and usefulness, and Providence permitted to be 
added to the spotless character of the patriot, the crowning glory 
of the martyr. In the midst of our sorrows. most profoundly 
grateful should we be that God gave us such a President. In 
coming years the descendants of the patriot hosts who have sus- 
tained him in all this gigantic conflict with tr tsoi lovingly 
lay their votive offerings upon his tomb, and a long line of Airie's 
sable sons, with tearful eyes and grateful hearts, shall teU the story 
of their chains, wrenched and snapped asunder by his strong 
right hand. The children of those whose arms have been raised 
against the Government in this unholy conflict, will be bowed in 
deep contrition and sorrow, and all shall unite in paying to the 
memory of him whom the whole land mourns to-day, in the pro- 
foundest reverence and affection of their hearts, the tribute that 
Abraham Lincoln was a pure-minded statesman, an ardent 
lover of liderty, and a thoroughly honest and good man. 



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